Abstract
There has been relatively a few studies that focused on evaluation of uncertainty for standard methods by which criteria pollutants are analyzed in ambient air. Especially, uncertainty evaluation has not been made yet for sampling and analysis of airborne NO$_2$. Ambient NO$_2$ has been thought to be a major criteria pollutant worldwide because of the potential of ozone formation as well as of its own toxicity. In this study, we tried to assess uncertainties associated with the every step of sampling and of analytical procedure of Griess-Saltzman method. Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) were also emphasized with the uncertainty characterization. The use of Griess-Saltzman method for ambient NO$_2$ analysis showed very uniform daily concentration distribution with the mean of 10.8 ppb and the standard deviation of 1.08ppb during the sampling period. However, seven daily samples collected at the same sampling time and place exhibited highly different concentration distribution. Therefore, we evaluated uncertainties associated with sampling and analysis through the precise application of ISO Guide. Estimates of expanded uncertainties for a total of 62 samples fell in a relatively broad range of 5.17% to 11.85%. On the other hand. the expanded uncertainties were smaller for the high concentration range of greater than 15ppb.
